"Sam ran a personal best time and ran a very strong race," said Struve. Sam, along with Karen Gonzalez and Melissa Gjerde were very close together for the last half of the race and finished within 12 seconds of each other."

Also running were Alyssa Ayers, who finished 42nd in 24:10 and Emily Hanson, who finished 47th in 27:02.

All the women, with the exception of Hanson, will be racing at the NJCAA National Cross Country Meet on Nov. 10 in Ina, Ill.

Laker men place fifth

The Laker men's team placed fifth overall, out of six teams.

"We did not have a full team, because only four of our men ran this meet," said Struve. "In this case, they use the 'dead man scoring' system, which allows us to still place as a team and compete against other full or non-full teams."

Andrew Kruger led the Lakers with a 39th-place finish in 29:54 on the 8K course. Teague Anderson placed 56th in 31:18 while Kyle Kephart placed 60th in 33:34 and Luke Hinton placed 63rd in 34:03.

"Most of our men ran well at this meet," said Struve. "Andrew's time was comparable to the rest of the season and hopefully he will finish in the top half at the national meet."

Anderson was close to another personal best time, just missing it by three seconds.

"He ran strong the whole race and kept his splits where I wanted them," said Struve. "Kyle and Luke ran close together for the first three miles and finished within 30 seconds of each other."

All four men will be traveling to Ina, Ill., to run in the national meet as well.